The present invention generally relates to the retention or detention of fluids, typically storm water, but may have other applications. Storm water retention and detention systems accommodate runoff at a given site by diverting or storing storm water and preventing pooling of water at the ground surface.
An underground storm water retention or detention system is generally utilized when the surface area on a building site is not available to accommodate other types of systems such as open reservoirs, basins or ponds. The underground systems do not utilize valuable surface areas as compared to reservoirs, basins or ponds. Underground systems are also advantageous in that they present fewer public hazards than other systems. Another advantage is that underground systems avoid having open, standing water which would be conducive to mosquito breeding. Underground systems also avoid the aesthetic problems of other systems such as algae growth and weed growth which can occur in other systems. Thus it is beneficial to have an underground system to manage storm water effectively.
One disadvantage of current underground systems is that they must accommodate existing or planned underground facilities such as utilities and other buried conduits. At the same time, the underground storm water retention or detention system must be effective in diverting storm water from the ground surface to another location. Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a modular underground system which has great versatility in the plan area form it can assume.
Another disadvantage of current underground systems is that they do not provide unrestricted storm water flow throughout the system. So it is desirous to provide a system which can permit relatively unconstrained flow throughout the system.
Underground systems must be able to withstand the traffic and earth loads which are applied to it without being prone to failure. So it is advantageous to provide an underground system which accommodates virtually any application of a load applied at the ground surface in addition to the weight of the earth surrounding the system.
The present invention therefore relates to the configuration, production and use of modular sections, which are preferably precast concrete and are usually installed in a longitudinally and laterally aligned configuration to form underground channels for the retention and/or detention of storm water.
Different forms of underground storm water detention and/or retention structures have been either proposed or made, for example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,838 to Infiltrator Systems, Inc. of Old Saybrook, Conn. and marketed under the trade name the “Maximizer Chamber System.” Furthermore, other underground water conveyance structures such as pipe, box culvert, and bridge culvert made of various materials have been proposed or constructed for underground storm water detention and/or retention purposes. However, the underground structures that have been previously proposed or constructed are designed for other applications and fail to provide one or more of the above advantages, as apparent after studying and analyzing their form.